eChapters

13.1 Introduction

Citrus is one of the important fruit crops in India with the production of 111.47 lakh tons from 10.78 lakh hectares with the productivity of 10.34 tons/ha at national level as compared to 25-30 tons/ha in advanced citrus producing countries (NHB, 2013). The productivity and quality of citrus is severely affected by several factors; insect pests being one of them. More than 250 insect pests were reported to attack citrus in India. A total of  22 insect species  in Punjab (Atwal, 1976) ; 50  insect species  in  Karnataka;  42 insect species  in  North-Eastern Hilly region (Pathak and Rao, 1999);  20 insect species in West Bengal and  about a dozen  insect species  in central India have been reported on different citrus cultivars. Further, the pest occurrence and distribution in India indicated that about 21 species are common throughout the citrus growing areas and remaining species may occur in some areas either occasionally or rarely. Of the reported insect pests, Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama), citrus blackfly (Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby), whitefly (Aleurolobus marlatti (Quaintance) and Dialeurodes sp.), leaf-miner (Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton), lemon butterfly (Papilio demoleus Linn.), leaf folder (Psorosticha zizyphi Stainton), aphids (Aphis spp. and Toxoptera spp.), thrips (Scirtothrips spp.), mealy bugs (Planococcus citri Risso), scales (Coccus hesperidus Linn), fruit sucking moth (Eudocima spp.), fruitfly (Bactrocera sp.), citrus trunk borer (Anoplophora versteegi Ritsema), bark eating caterpillar, lndarbela spp.

15.1 Introduction

In recent years, the role of plant secondary metabolites as protective constituents in the human diet has been a growing area of research. Unlike the traditional vitamins, they are not essential for short-term wellbeing, but there is increasing evidence that modest long-term intakes can have favourable impacts on the human health. Teas, coffee and cocoa represent plantation cash crops grown in many of the warmer, less developed regions of the world. They serve as stimulant beverages and their demand is ever increasing day by daily. However, production of these beverages is under the severe threat due to attack from various pests and diseases which cause considerable damage.

INTRODUCTION

Cotton is an important commercial crop and plays a key role in the economy of country. Cotton is grown in different states of India viz Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In India the area under cotton crop is 8.76 m ha and the productivity is 436 Kg lint/ha as against the world average of 682 kg lint/ha (Anonymous, 2005). The productivity of cotton is variable in the country in the range of 287 to 720 kg lint/ha (Anonymous, 2005). The major constraints in cotton cultivation in India are as follows
 
MAJOR CONSTRAINTS IN COTTON CULTIVATION IN INDIA
    i.    Abnormal weather conditions 
    ii.    Cultivation of cotton under rainfed condition 
    iii.    Cultivation of large number of susceptible and undescript cultivars with varied growth pattern. 
    iv.    Poor soil health
    v.    Long duration of crop 
    vi.    Long sowing period 
    vii.    Indeterminate nature of cotton plant 
    viii.    Intensive cultivation 
    ix.    Imbalance use of fertilizers 
    x.    Non judicious use of irrigation water 
    xi.    Higher incidence of insect pests due to 

17.1 Introduction

Cotton is a major fibre crop of global importance and has high commercial value. It is grown commercially in the temperate and tropical regions of more than 100 countries. Specific areas of production include countries such as China, USA, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Australia, Greece, Brazil, Egypt etc., where climatic conditions suit the natural growth requirements of cotton. These include periods of hot and dry weather and adequate moisture obtained through irrigation. Cotton crop is considered as one of the most important cash crops that influenced the industrial and agricultural economy of the different cotton growing countries of world. Thus, cotton is an immensely important crop for the sustainable economy of these countries and livelihood of the farming community. Cotton crop is considered as one of the most important cash crops that influenced the industrial and agricultural economy of the different cotton growing countries of world. Cotton cultivation and textile industry provide livelihood to million persons, therefore any failure of cotton crop significantly influence the economic growth of cotton belt and textile sector.

Introduction

India is bestowed with a wide variety of agro-climatic conditions and has unique comparative advantage for growing almost all horticultural crops (fruits and vegetables) in the country. Horticulture has remained as a major sub-sector of agriculture and forms an integral part of food and nutritional security, employment generation and enhancing the farm income. The growing economic importance of these crops could be attributed to increasing demands in domestic as well as in overseas market. The total area under fruit is 6.10 million hectare and total production is 68.47 million tonnes which accounts for 11 per cent of the world total fruit production (Anonymous, 2009).

Since, there is a limited scope to enhance the horticultural production in traditionally growing areas, emphasis has to be laid on harnessing the potential of vast wasteland and dry land spread over more than half of the geographical area of the country. Dry and rainfed area constitutes a major share of wasteland and untapped land resource where several indigenous horticultural crop species can be commercially exploited to strengthen the agro-based industries and providing the livelihood to the masses.

Storage plays a crucial role between harvesting and the processing or direct consumption of food grains. In developing countries, its significance is amplified, especially since small and medium landholding farmers heavily rely on on-farm storage. In India, however, an annual storage loss of 14 million tons, worth approximately 7,000 crores, occurs due to post-harvest pest damage. The economic loss from storage pests is not only a result of consumption but also due to contamination and spoilage caused by the pests’ body parts, excreta, and hoarding. The lack of awareness about storage pests, their damage, and the use of improper storage techniques contribute to these massive losses.
The solution lies in constructing suitable storage structures, which are wellequipped and properly managed, and implementing strict hygiene standards in storage areas, along with efficient pest control measures. These combined efforts are essential to minimize storage losses. This section focuses on identifying major pests in storage and their management strategies.
SIGNIFICANT INSECT PESTS OF GRAINS THAT ARE STORED
The primary insect pests that affect stored grains include:
• Lesser grain borer (Rhizopertha dominica)
• Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae)
• Khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium)
• Rust red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum)
• Long headed flour beetle (Latheticus oryzae)
• Saw toothed beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis)
• Rice moth (Corcyra cephalonica)
• Almond moth (Cadra cautella)
• Angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella)

Introduction

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) represents a holistic approach to managing pest populations in horticultural crops, aiming to minimize the use of chemical pesticides while ensuring sustainable and economically viable crop production. IPM integrates multiple strategies—cultural, biological, mechanical, and chemical—within a coordinated framework, emphasizing ecological balance and long-term pest suppression. This article provides a comprehensive overview of IPM principles, methodologies, and applications in horticultural crops, addressing the ecological, economic, and regulatory dimensions of this essential agricultural practice.

Principles of IPM

Ecological Approach

IPM is fundamentally an ecological approach that considers the complex interactions between pests, crops, and the environment. By understanding these interactions, IPM seeks to manipulate ecosystems to favour natural pest control mechanisms and reduce the need for synthetic chemical inputs.

Plantation crops are high-value commercial crops of greater economic importance which play a pivotal role in the world economy. These include coconut, arecanut, tea, coffee, rubber, cocoa, oil palm, cashew. In this chapter only Cashew and Rubber are dealt with since the other plantation crops have been dealt in the earlier chapters.

INTRODUCTION

Potato is a crop of major significance in human nutrition, ranking fourth in world production, after wheat, maize and rice. Potatoes are grown on over 44 million acres in more than 125 countries, with annual production of about 250 million tons. Potatoes are grown across India, with production concentrated in several areas of the North Indian plains and West Bengal. Indian potato production is significant and accounts for 8.5 per cent of the world total (Dahiya et al., 1999).

The potato has hundreds of recognized pests including many insects, mites, nematodes and rodents. Some of these were transported to new locations alongwith seed tubers. Others were already present in locations where the potato was introduced and then proliferated on this new host plant. Because a potato crop is vegetatively propagated from tubers, which easily carry some pathogens and pests, many pest problems have followed potatoes to areas wherever they are grown. The potato tuber moth was introduced accidentally into India from Italy in 1906, probably through seed potatoes (Lefroy, 1907), and by the middle of century had become well established throughout India (Kumar and Nirula, 1967). Of all the major food crops, potato is heaviest user of chemical pesticides, which often total up to 20 per cent of its cost of production (Anonymous, 1991).

Introduction

Rice is the staple food of about 50% of the world’s population that resides in Asia, where 90 % of the world’s rice is grown and consumed. In the International year of Rice celebrated in 2004 the theme was “Rice is life” which reflects the importance of rice as a primary food source of human beings. In the world, annually rice is cultivated in about 151.54 million hectares with an annual production of 593 metric tonnes and average productivity of 3.91 tonnes/ha (Rai, 2004). From its Asian homeland, it is now cultivated in 113 countries and plays a variety of roles related to important aspects of food security as well as rural and economic development. In Asia this crop is grown in 136.07 million ha followed by 7.67 million ha in Africa and 5.09 million ha in Latin America with a production of 539.84, 16.97 and 19.54 metric tonnes and productivity of 2.97, 2.21 and 2.84 tonnes, respectively (Rai, 2004). In India, rice is the staple food for more than 65 % people (Pasalu and Katti, 2004). Rice is grown under various geographical, climatic and cultural conditions. The current level of rice production in the country is around 90 million tonnes. Based on the present rate of population growth @ 1.5 % and per capita consumption of 250 g of rice/day in the country, the demand for rice production is expected to be about 100-105 million tonnes by 2010 and 130-140 million tonnes by 2025. To achieve this target, it requires increasing productivity per unit area by the adoption of modern and intensive agricultural practices, such as use of high yielding varieties and improved cultural and management practices. Experience of post green revolution period in last four decades indicates that these practices often aggravate other biotic constraints such as insects, diseases and weeds. However, insect pests are considered to be the major limiting factor in enhancing the productivity of rice.

INTORDUCTION

Spices are strongly flavored aromatic substances of plant origin which are commonly used for seasoning, cooking food and for preserving other food stuffs. There are about 70 species of spices grown in various parts of the world. Those which are used most commonly throughout the world are grown in India and other parts of South Asia.

The seed spices are annual herbs, whose dried fruits or seeds are mostly used as spices. The seed spices are used for culinary, confectionary, perfumery, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industry. There are about 20 seed spices grown in India (Table 1) and nine out of them are prominent. The most important among them are belongs to family Apiaceae (coriander, cumin, fennel etc). about 9 lakh ha area is growing in seed spices in the country with annual production of about 5-6 lakh tones (Anonymous, 2003). India is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of seed spices. The foreign exchange earned through export of seed spices is more than Rs 200 crores annually. India exports raw spices as well as value added items to nearly 70 countries in the world and is meeting 51% of the global demand of these commodities. There is good potential for increasing export of seed spices, if production as well as quality is increased. The level of productivity in various seed spices is comparatively low as compared to other countries. There are many production constrains attributed to low productivity. The lake of suitable high yielding varieties suiting to different agro-ecological regions and more incidences of diseases and insect pests. Among different insect pests, coriander aphid, Hydaphis coriandari (Das) is one of the most destructive and widely distributed pest of coriander (Jain, 1984 and Jain and Yadav, 1989). Recently brown wheat mite was observed attacking coriander and other spices (Jain and Yadav, 1986 and 1989).

The produced food grains have to be stored either for short or long duration for utilization in the coming times for food, feed and seed. In storage, these undergo 9.33 per cent losses due to various agencies such as rodents, insects and mites, microorganism and moisture in India, whereas, in other developing countries, the losses are as high as 30 to 50 per cent. Therefore, with an urge to produce more, there is still urgent need to protect the produce in the storage to meet the challenge. As a result of improved storage technology, the losses in Government Warehouses could be reduced to minimum but at farmers’ level, where 60-70 per cent of the produce is retained, the losses are still too high.

The management of insects in stored products is in transition from a dependence on regular applications of chemical insecticides to the use of integrated pest management (IPM). IPM involves understanding interactions between stored product environment and insects associated with stored products, and replacing all or most of the chemical applications with cost effective non chemical alternatives. The increased emphasis in adopting IPM strategies for stored product insects is primarily due to consumers’ demand for food free from pesticide residues. The transition from a heavy reliance on chemicals to little or no chemical input and increased use of non chemical approaches requires a thorough understanding of stored product insects, their identification, monitoring, biology, ecology and response to chemical and non chemical management options. The current scenario of stored grain protection in India depends totally and judicious use of IPM strategies. For safe storage of food grains, both the preventive and curative measures are required:

9.1 Introduction

Cereal crops are of global importance and the lifeline of the human civilization. The four most important cereals grown for human food in the tropics are rice, maize, sorghum and pearl millet. There are other minor cereals of tropical origin which are of local importance in the tropics. These include finger millet (Eleusine coracana), a staple food in parts of East and Central Africa; barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea), cultivated in India and Southeast Asia; foxtail millet (Setaria italica), grown in parts of India; and teff (Eragrostis tef), which is confined to the Ethiopian highlands. The winter cereals wheat and barley are also grown to a limited extent in the tropics, largely at high altitudes: for example, wheat in Kenya and barley in Ethiopia. Wheat and barley are important crops in the Indian subcontinent, and are grown there in the cool season at low altitudes, but the bulk of the crop area lies outside the tropics.

11.1 Introduction

Tropical Root and Tuber Crops serve as primary or secondary staple to meet the calorie needs of one fifth of world’s population. These crops have myriad and complex roles to play in the food security and reduction of hunger and elimination of poverty. The starch content, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical value endow these crops with an extra ordinary range of potential and uses. Root and tuber crops are also greater sources of industrial raw materials for biodiesel and starch derived materials.

8.1 Introduction

Vegetables are cultivated over an area of about 19 million ha globally, with an annual production of 268 million tonnes; Asia and Africa account for more than 90% of the hectarage and production (FAO, 2011). Vegetable crops contribute to human and environmental health. Most vegetables can supply plant proteins, vitamins (especially vitamins A and C), folic acid, minerals such as iron and calcium, and dietary fiber to the human diet (Fowler, 2011). Vegetable legumes also fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, thus improving soil fertility. Their haulms can be used as high quality livestock fodder. Most vegetables are high-value, repeat-cycle crops that can help lift small-scale farmers out of poverty in developing tropical countries (Genova et al., 2010). However, vegetable production is often constrained by several severe biotic- and abiotic factors that reduce yields and profits.

Introduction

India ranks second in the production of vegetables after China. The existing area under vegetable cultivation in India is around 4.5 million ha. There is a need of around 5-6 million tons of food to feed 1.3 billion India’s population by 2020 AD. The major constraint in vegetable production, include the extensive crop losses due to increased pest infestations directly or due to viral diseases vectored by insects. The extent of crop losses in vegetables varies with the plant type, location, damage potential of the pest involved and cropping season. Vegetables are more prone to insect pests and diseases mainly due to their succulence as compared to other crops. The crop losses to the tune of 40 per cent have been observed in vegetable crops. The increased demand and limited productivity of local cultivars, led to introduction of high yielding varieties and hybrids. As a result, dramatic changes in pest scenario occurred like minor pests assuming major status (eg., Serpentine leaf miner, Liriomyza trifolii a serious problem in tomato hybrids). Chemical pesticides are the sole panacea to mange the pest by vegetable farmers even today. Indiscriminate use of pesticides has led to severe ecological consequences like destruction of natural enemy fauna, effect on non-target organisms, pesticide residues in vegetables and resistance of the pest to pesticides. The modern pest management is aimed at educating the farmers on various issues of pest management like identification of the pests, natural enemies, judicious use of pesticides with alternate methods of pest control like cultural, mechanical, biological and behavioral (pheromones) management.

Introduction

Vegetables contain large quantities of minerals, vitamins and essentials amino acids required for normal functioning of human metabolic processes and plays an important role in food and nutritional security. India is the second largest vegetables producing countries next to China and occupies 7.981 million ha area with an annual production of 129.077 million tons (Anonymous, 2009). Due to expanding urbanization and deforestation, most of the natural resources are depleting and shrinking with a rapid pace. With the limited land and depleting water resources, India has to feed the burgeoning population without destroying the ecological balances. In this context, we must have to look after the vertical expansion through increase in the intensity, diversification, mixed and intercropping of vegetable crops. Besides this, vegetables are also more prone to insect pests and diseases mainly due to their tenderness and softness as compared to other crops.

INTRODUCTION

Phytophagous mites have long been considered as potentially serious pests of a wide range of food and fibre crops, and ornamentals. They are covered under subclass Acari of class Arachnida and phylum Arthropoda. Mites unlike insects are 8-legged creatures and lack compound eyes, antennae and wings. Plant feeding mites measure from 200µ to 600µ. Majority of the plant feeding mites belong to suborder Prostigmata, and phytophagous mites belong to family Tetranychidae (spider mites); Eriophyidae (bud or gall mites) ; Tenuipalpidae (false spider mites); Tarsonemidae (broad mites) and Tuckerellidae, in the decreasing order of their importance. Before one can develop integrated management of phytophagous mites in different agri-horticultural ecosystems, knowledge about the following fundamentals of phytophagous mite management principles is a big must.

2.1 Introduction

India is the second largest vegetables producing country next to China. Vegetable crops are grown on an area of 7.2 million hectares (Mha) with an annual production of 113.5 million tonnes (mt) in the year 2005-06 (Rai, 2007). The extent of crop losses in vegetable crops variety with the crop type, location, damage potential of the insect pests involved and cropping season. As vegetables are perishable items and are more prone to pest attacks, and at a conservative estimate, insect pests cause about 35-40 percent losses (Sardana et al., 2005). The major vegetables cultivated by farmers were cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.), cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.), and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. (Moench)). The chief pests of the cauliflower and cabbage crops were the tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura Fab.), diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.), cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae L.), cabbage borer (Hellula undalis Fab.) and aphids (Brevicoryne brassicae L.). In the okra crop, the shoot and fruit borer (Earias vitella Fab.), jassids/leafhoppers (Amrasca bigutulla bigutulla Ishida) whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) and fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera Hübner) were the main pests. Yield losses due to diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) 17-99 percent, cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae) 69 percent, and crucifer leaf webber (Crocidolomia binotalis) 28-51 percent, cabbage borer (Hellula undalis) 30-58 percent in cabbage/cauliflower. In Brinjal, 11-93 percent loss is caused by fruit and shoot borer (Leucinodes orbonalis). In okra, yield losses due to shoot and fruit borer (Earias vitella) is 23-54 percent, jassids/ leafhoppers (Amrasca bigutulla bigutulla) 54-66 percent, whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) 54 percent and due to fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera) yield loss is in the tune of 22 percent (Shanker et al. 2008). The management strategy for the insect pests and diseases remain largely confined to pesticides. The overemphasis on the use of chemical pesticides by the vegetable growers leads to the multitude of problems to human health and ecology.

Endowed with varied agro-climatic situations, topography and soil type, India has been a leading vegetable producing country in the world occupying the second
position in vegetable production after China with an annual production of 87.53 million tonnes from 5.86 million hectares having a share of 14.4 per cent to the world production. With commercial cultivation of as many as 61 annual and 4 perennial vegetables, India is the most diverse vegetable growing country in the world (Prakash et al., 2006).